Author
Topic: Midnight Madness Experiences! Share! (Read 10534 times)

I was really disappointed in not finding anything after #32 I was looking forward to those army builders the most. Cant complain though. I found 1-32 and was able to score 5 Clones, 5 Blue Guards and 5 Red Guards. Also picked up Obi's ship, the Barc and the Beast pack. The Red Guard was tough, it took my 4 stores to find the ones I got. The Blue Guard was in heavy abundance as was the Clone. My fear is that Walmart and TRU is so saturated with these figs we wont be seeing later waves for a bit.

Back, for now, but heading out again this afternoon. The Mrs. wants to do some other shopping, and I still need to pick up the books, etc. So far, this is what I've done:

-Headed to Wal-Mart (tent one) at about 11:45 last night. The wife wanted to go with me (she's great), and helped by just holding a cart while I went in and got what I wanted. There were probably a dozen or so other people there, and the WM employees pretty much just let collectors open the cases themselves. I was sort of on the outside, waiting for my chance to get in the melee, and just picked up out of the cases when others were done with them. Overall, everyone was very cordial with one another, and trying to help everyone else find what they were looking for. Our particular Wal-Mart had #1-32 as well, and I found all I wanted outside of Emperor Palpatine. He definitely seemed to be the hottest figure last night here. I skipped the duplicate Yodas, Obi Wans, Anakins, and Battle Droids...but got the majority of the rest of the first 32. I left Mon Mothma for now as well, but figured I could pick that one up later fairly easily. I also picked up the Boga w/Obi Wan, BARC Speeder, and Obi-Wan's fighter. They didn't have the AT-RT there, or the large scale ships. Skipped all of the 1st Wave of Deluxe, and picked up Unleashed Anakin and Obi-Wan (Grievous was gone). They also had the next wave of ROTS Galactic Heroes, so I picked those up as well.

-This morning, I headed out to Target/Wal-Mart around 8 or so. Went to Target first, and they didn't seem to be doing anything with Lava Vaders/tickets, etc. I didn't ask, and didn't really care if I got one anyways. I picked up the Unleashed Grievous, a SaeSee Tiin that I couldn't find the night before, and two of the cup sets (didn't get the Grievous one yet). Also ended up picking up the 2nd Anakin figure, sort of an impulse buy, might end up returning it. They had the ARC Fighter as well, and I think I might end up going back to get that. Then I went to the Wal-Mart "tent sale", which was kind of neat. Cashiers were dressed up as Jedi and there video games occupied by the kiddos. I picked up an Early Bird set, found the Palpy I missed the night before, and another Clonetrooper.

All in all, a fun...and expensive...experience. I was a little disappointed there wasn't anything beyond 32 (the clones in particular), but its just as well because I'm spending more than enough as it is. I was surprised to see the new Galactic Heroes, which was nice. I've never had this big of a haul, and it is kind of overwhelming. We're heading out later on today, and I might try to pick up the ARC Fighter, and a book or two. Good luck to everyone in their searches!

Well I have an intristing story. First I off, I thought i would be heading ther with 100 bucks, but I didn't get my money so i just used what i had............... $48 . So I figure i can get 5. We went to go and see the 9:30pm showing of Sin City..wich was great. But when we got there the 9:30 was sold out at 8:45! We were forced to go to 10:20. We got out of the movie and to Toys "R" Us at about 1:35am. So were an hour late and the store is still packed. I run over get the few i was looking for and figure..oh crap all the guards are gone now. I see a old lady (55ish) walk out with a Red Royal guard. To my left some guy is really bummed that they didn't have the Vader Pez dispencer.

I rummage around for about 10minutes and i see the Pez, I take and me and the stocker try to find the guy but he had already left. 1 hour goes by of me opening unopend boxes and getting no guards. I see a cart full of figures that i haven't looked at yet, but i was loosing hope and deciede that the guard could'nt be in there. As soon as i thought that a guy pulls one out.

30 minutes go by..everything was checked. So i deciede to walk out with the 4 i wanted. Then as i am paying, the stocker comes up to me and says "Here yah go man....it was mine." He hands me his royal guard and I didn't know what to say, I mean this guy was keeping it for himself the whole time and he gives to me in the end.

I forgot about the AT-RT. I thought I overlooked it so I went back out to a few stores. Nada. Anybody find these in there New Engand TRU or WM? Grabbed another handful of Clones and Bodyguards when I went out. The shelves still had good numbers of every fig. The figs that were short in my area were the 2nd Anakin, 2nd Obi-Wan and Tarfful. BTW, when I hit stores this morning, I was the first person to buy ROTS stuff at 2 Walmarts, TRU and KB. BTW, After finding a couple of Red Guards, I noticed that KB only had Red Guards and not Blue.

This store also had only ONE Pollis Massan and ONE Vader Medical Droid - I was able to snag both.

NONE of the stores had any signs of Clone Commander, AT-TE Gunner, Mas Amedda, Clone Pilot, Palpatine #35 or Exploding Grevious. I would have LOVED to get the Clones but alas the only clone to be had ANYWHERE was the quick-draw version. Pilots would have been nice especially since I found the ARC-170!

I ended up screwing up though in my rush 'cause I grabbed some extras and I didn't end up with a second Spinning Attack Yoda or Saesee Tiin.

I then went to WalMart and I picked up two of the Early Bird kits - ended up getting them both on the same receipt which means I can't redeem both, but I was only planning on redeeming both anyway.

I also picked up one of the Darth Vader Carrying Cases w/the two figures.

I then hi-tailed it over to another TRU to grab the last 12" figure I needed, 12" General Grevious.

Hit the Van Nuys CA TRU at about 10:30 and there were about 10 people or so lined up. Grabbed a cup of coffe at 7/11 and got in line at about #15. My wife came along to help out and we had a great chat with another guy on line while passing the time.

I was bit disappointed that I didn;t see any Shaak-Ti, Agen Kolar, Kit Fisto or Plo Koon. I guess I'll try to find them today.

They gave out tickets to raffle the the purchase of 12 Holo-Yodas. I gave my wife's and my tickets to Darth_Anton, hey Anthony good to see you, and he nabbed one with our ticket. I would have taken that Yoda for free with the $35 but I was not interested in buying one.

Jared and I totally cleaned house on everything we were looking for, except the Target cups, where we came up a little short, and on figure #s 37 - 40. Didn't see those anywhere, or even hear of any sightings of them. Anyone else come across those?

I passed on the big ships and Battle Arena sets for now, so I can buy them next week and pick up a couple Holo Yodas, and spread the credit card charges out just a bit so I can still pay this month's bill in full!

Fun times, and not enough time right now to cover it all. But the tough figures in our area were both of the Royal Guards (red/blue), the Clone Commander, Clone Pilot, and Grievous in Poncho.

Target was DEAD, it was me and another guy (who I assumed to be a collector) in the isle. I saw at least 3 of each figure except for the Royal Guard (Both Red and Blue). I ended up getting each fig I wanted though, so I'm happy.

I ended up spending most of the day looking for stuff. Started last night at midnight was second in line at the Indusrty TRU. My cousin and his friend showed up and we teamed up to take different jobs, 12" figures, figures and getting baskets to but stuff in. For the past few hours outside I was looking in to see what was on the pegs and spotted a red guard on the top right hand coner of the display. When the doors opened I end up getting a two hand baskets and went straight to this figure and got it. After getting it I started getting the others but eventually was pushed out by the crowd. My cousin who went to get the 12inch figures was now in the middle of the figure display calling my name and handing me figure after figures. We got a basket full of stuff and went to a open area to look at what we got. WE ended up seperating the stuff and looking for what we didn't have. After about 12:40 or so we left and went to the Pomona TRU which had nothing left we need. I ened up going to the San Dimas Walmart which had nothing. This morning I been all over and have found the Arc-170 and Gunships but no figures pass 36 or so.

OK, so last nite was pretty wild to say the least. I scoped out Covina TRU and Glendora WalMart last nite around 9pm PST. There were about 5 people at TRU and WalMart had yet to put out any product (they were still hanging pegs and putting up stickers) so I went home. I ate and passed the time playing ESPN MLB 2K5. Around 11pm I decided to head out. There were now about 30 people at TRU so I decided to hit WalMart. WalMart had a terrible setup. They had 1 row of SW product facing out into the aisle. Down the aisle were pallets so you couldn't walk across to the SW area. They had everyone lined up (about 20 people) on the other side of the pallets. They were doing what they did for Ep.II which was letting people into this section 3 at a time for a couple minutes and then sending in the next group, and so on, and so on. I didn't want to deal with that again so I left. I headed to another TRU (Monrovia) not far away (10 mins) thinking it may not be that crowded. This is where it gets nuts. There were about 60 people in line at this store, which was a shock. As we all head in, I notice that there is no big set up, a feature shop like my other TRU had set up. The SW section was just to the right as you walk in located inside the water toys section. You guys know what I'm talking about. It's that section located just inside the store where they keep all the pools, water toys and summer-type toys. The basic figs were set up in a corner, yes a corner. Picture 60 people pushing into an area that could fit about 5 people. The rest of the SW merchandise was next to it and on the ajacent row. It was f-in insane. People were shoving each other, reaching over each other. Even people who were up front and grabbed what they want couldn't get out! I pushed my way up and grabbed a deluxe Sidious and Anakin/Vader. By this time the basics started to disappear so everyone started heading to the end of the aisle because there were pallets set up w/ several employees standing there. They were in an area that blocked access to the rest of the store. What came next was what made it even crazier. As all of us started reaching for boxes and figures, the employees started cutting open cases and throwing them into the crowd! They just pointed at people like myself and said, "Hey, Yankee hat! Here you go!" and proceeded to toss a case at me. Figures and cases were flying everywhere. I saw 2 chicks get nailed in the head by flying cases. Product just littered the floor. After grabbing an Anakin and Vader out of the case, I looked back where the basic figs were and saw that the 12" figs were underneath where the basic figs first were. So I nearly knocked over a kid as I made my way through the crowd and grabbed the last 12" Grievous. I grabbed a Force Battler Vader and then hung out with a couple guys from my old gym who were there and waited to check out. Nearly all the cases that came out during that melee were the same Collection 1 case, so I didn't get a cloaked Anakin (the one w/ the evil eyes) nor did any of the deluxe cases have any Grievous figs. Didn't see anything beyond figure number 30 or so. I paid for my figs and left at about 1:30am.

I was completely drained after that surreal experience so I talked to my friend Cory on the phone and told him "screw the Lava Vader. I'm not doing this again." So I crashed out about 2:30am and didn't sleep much as I kept getting calls, mostly from Cory and Jamie. Well at about 10am this morning my buddy Cory calls and tells me that a new Target about 20 mins away still has 15 Lava Vaders! So now I'm awake and energized. I got my happy *** out of bed, drove out to the new Target and scored myself a minty Lava Vader!! The geeky manager in electronics had the figs there and was sticking to the 1 per customer, so I couldn't grab more but I'm glad I didn't have to deal with any line or waking up at the crack of dawn to get one. Their SW section had barely been touched so I grabbed myself a deluxe Grievous. I then got a call from my friend who told me that Covina TRU put out a case of Holo Yodas! I headed there next and grabbed 3 of them (1 for myself, 1 for Jamie and one for Cory.) So now I don't have to deal with the "buy $25 worth, get one free" deal as the Yodas rang up for $10 each. I also picked up the cloaked Anakin fig at Covina TRU as they had about 6 of them. So all in all Midnight Madness lived up to its name and then some.